Because
by xwannaflyx
Summary: Team Gai have a mission together. During the mission, TenTen is hurt while trying to save Neji. Can TenTen tell Neji the truth and can Neji acept it? NejiTen
1. Leaving for a Mission

yo!

thanks for reading this people who are

**disclaimer: dont sue me, i dont own this naruto, etc etc etc yada yada yada**

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Getting Ready

**TenTen's POV**

I was in a crouch, panting while the almighty Hyuuga prodigy was standing on the other side of our training grounds with an annoying calm aura. I knew that it would piss me off if he gloated but when he acting as if it was normal to beat me hurt, even if it was true. "Let's take a break Neji," I panted.

Neji turned and glanced at me then at then strewn weapons all over the training grounds, "Hn," he said.

_There he goes_, I thought angrily, _Being an emotionless bastard again._ I took it as a yes and sat down at the base of a tree. I grabbed my bag and pulled out a water bottle and took a long drink out of it. I was considering collecting my weapons for the next match when a green blur parked itself right in front of me and yelled, "My youthful teammates!"

The kunai I'd been about to use to stab into the person went back into my pouch, "Lee!" I yelled, "I was about to stab you baka!"

"My apologies for scaring you our youthful blossom!" he yelled again, "But Tsunade-sama wants to see us!"

I sighed and pulled out my scrolls, I decided to ignore the 'youthful flower' comment, I almost (but not quite) got use to it. I opened all of them and made a quick hand sign, I murmured softly, summoning all my weapons back into my scrolls. I turned to see our other teammate, Neji. "Ready Neji?" I asked politely. Of course he was he didn't have to gather up millions of weapons after our fights, all he had to do was stop his damn rotation, and stand there looking as clean and calm as he had been when he got here.

Neji nodded and we all jumped from rooftop to rooftop to get to Tsunade-sama's office. At the door, we were stopped by Shizune who announced us before we were allowed in. "YOSH!" Tsunade-sama yelled when we got in, "I have an A ranked mission for you three. And no Lee, Gai-sensei will not be joining you. For one thing, you guys can do this without his help, for another he is needed elsewhere." Lee seriously looked heartbroken about that little fact. "The mission is that you will retrieve twelve scrolls that were stolen from a village. A medium sized group of missing nins seem to have stolen it. You will probably have to kill them to get them back. According to the villagers, there were about thirty to forty nins. Dismissed!"

We all walked out thinking about the mission. I really hoped that I wouldn't hold my team back, I seriously hated that when it happened. Neji stopped us before we completely left the building, "We'll leave at five in the morning tomorrow, be ready."

We all nodded to each other before walking away from each other. I walked toward Ino's flower shop, wanting to tell her so that she could tell my other friends if I missed any. When I arrived there, I saw Kiba and Ino leaning way too close to each other to just be having a 'friend conversation.' I watched with an evil little smirk on my face while they kissed, isn't it awesome to have blackmail on your friends? After they finally broke apart, I entered with a sarcastic, "You guys sure look like 'only friends.'"

Ino blushed slightly but didn't move away from Kiba, "Hey TenTen, what brings you here?" Kiba nodded a greeting to me.

I smiled, "I have a mission tomorrow that will probably take around a week. If Temari comes during then, tell her to wait for me, she owes me a rematch."

Ino rolled her eyes, "I don't see why you don't just tell Shikamaru, he's probably the first one that will find out if she does come."

"Because," I said patiently, "those two will probably be too busy locking lip and Shikamaru will just call it troublesome, you know him. You and Chouji always find out second seeing that you guys are best friends."

Kiba interrupted, "You're going on a mission with your team?"

I raised my eyebrows, "No shit genius," I said bluntly.

"With Neji?" Ino giggled raising her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes, "There's nothing going on, I seriously think Neji's worse about emotions then the Uchiha is. Besides, the way you go on about how I go on missions with Neji, I'd think that you like him. Should Kiba be jealous?"

Ino scowled when I said that, "TENTEN!" she shrieked looking the very definition of pissed.

I clapped my hands over my ears, "Kami Ino, shut up. I'm going to go deaf. Anyway, tell Temari that if she does come. Gotta go, I need to see Hinata and Sakura before I go get ready. I don't want Sakura to throw a fit at me after the mission."

I started walking out the door when Ino voiced out what I'd been thinking, "You mean she'll give you a complete bitch fit after the mission if you aren't either dead or injured. If you're dead, she'll yell at you when she gets in terms with it, if you're injured, she'll yell at you while she treats you then complete lecture when you're healed."

I laughed and said right before I walked out the door, "I'll be fine Blondie, just pay attention to your flowers and dog boy."

I heard Ino shriek some cuss words at me before I jumped onto a rooftop and began going to the Team 7 training grounds. The moment I stepped into the grounds, several weapons were thrown at me. I dodged some and caught others. When the air cleared, I saw Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto standing there watching me. I raised up the weapons I was holding, "So, who's are these."

Sakura laughed, "You _would_ catch them. So why did you want to see me?"

I grinned mischievously, "What makes you think I wanted to see you?"

Sakura smirked, she's been _way_ spending time with the Uchiha too long. "One, you're in our training grounds. Two, you wouldn't be seeing Naruto unless it's for a mission because he aggravates you on how thoughtless he is of his weapons. Three, you aren't seeing Sasuke, you think he's a emo chicken ass headed bastard that should be stabbed to death for leaving me and is just starting to forgive him. So the only other person you can see is me. So what's up?"

"I have a mission tomorrow and I didn't feel like getting lectured while I was healing if I got hurt so I came to tell you," I stated bluntly.

Sakura laughed, "I wouldn't lecture you too much. All of Team Gai manages to disappear before they're suppose to." She glared at me, accusing me of doing it.

I grinned, "What can I say, it's boring."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "All right see you after the mission, good luck!"

I laughed, "I hope I don't need it," I said cheerfully.

Sakura smiled at me, "Tell Hinata I said hi," she said knowing I was going to go there.

Naruto's head snapped up, "Hinata?" he asked, "Tell her I love her and I said hi!" he exclaimed happily. I saw Sasuke roll his eyes and wrap an arm around Sakura for some random reason only the lovebirds could figure out. I began jumping away, inwardly laughing at Naruto's antics.

I began jumping toward the Hyuuga Compound, I had wanted to talk to Hinata last because we usually ended up talking for a really long time. She was really easy to talk to and I could open up to her whenever I felt like crying about my family.

I arrived at the wall of the Hyuuga Compound and regarded the door. _Naw, _I thought cheerfully,_ What's the fun in that? Besides, the door person always thinks I'm a fangirl for some reason I don't feel like getting pissed right now. _I looked at the small spaces in between the stones and threw my kunais there. They formed a weird sort of staircase. I grinned cheerfully as I jumped from one kunai to the next until I was level with the top of the wall. I paused at my top kunai, there weren't any traps, wires, or tricks that I could see but that didn't really mean much. I gently stepped onto the top of the wall and connect chakra strings to my kunai to pull them out. I stored the kunais back in my pouch and somersaulted to the ground. I saw a few Hyuuga women gaping at me, apparently_ their _ladies were more…… well ladylike. I ignored them and began carefully making my way to Hinata's room.

"Stop!" commanded a Hyuuga when I was about to open Hinata's door. "You are not permitted to go into Hinata-sama's room without her permission and you are not allowed to bring in your weapons with you."

The guy amused me, until he said I had to separate from my weapons, "Go screw yourself," I growled, "I never separate from my weapons. Besides, I'm a friend of Hinata's."

The idiot continued to try and stop me whenever I reached for the doorknob. Finally, I had enough, "Look baka," I growled, "I'm a friend of Hinata's and I fully intend to go into her room whether or not I have to go through you to do so. Literally and figuratively."

He stood there and as he was sputtering some protest, I stepped forward and reached for the knob. He tried to stop me, until five kunais that I threw pinned him to the wall. "Dumbass," I muttered.

The sound of a body hitting the wall must have alerted Hinata of visitors because the door opened to show her curious face. "T-TenTen?" she stammered.

"Hey Hinata," I said cheerfully, acting as if I hadn't just broken in and pinned her guard to a wall.

"Hinata-sama," the guard exclaimed, "I tried to stop her but she—"

Hinata frowned at the guard, "Why would you do something as suicidal as that? You're lucky she was in a good mood."

The guard gaped; I guess he was trying to imagine a more pissed mood than the one he had been seeing. I smiled sweetly, you haven't even seen _half _of it little boy. I ignored him and his attempts to get free and turned to Hinata, "Hey Hinata!"

Hinata smiled at me, "Hello TenTen-san."

I grumbled, "I can't believe you still call me –san, just call me TenTen or –chan, 'kay?"

She smiled, "Sure TenTen-chan, but I get the feeling that isn't all that you came to talk about."

"You're a smart one," I said cheerfully, "Can we inside your room and talk"

"Eh? Oh, of course," Hinata murmured and she gestured me into her room. Hinata's room was simple and in shades of lavender, light blue, and white. All together, it was a pretty room. "So, what did you want to tell me?" Hinata asked once she closed the door.

I pretended to think, "For one thing, my team has a mission tomorrow, for another Sakura said hi and………….." I stopped for a moment, pretending to think harder, "Oh yeah! Naruto gives you his love." Hinata turned a bright red and began playing with her fingers. Even though they've been going out for about a year, Hinata was still adorably cute and embarrassed when Naruto was public about. "He also said hi."

"T-T-Thanks," Hinata stammered. She closed her eyes for a moment and regain control, "Are you worried about your mission?"

I quickly smiled, I ignored how fake it felt and focused on reassuring Hinata. "Ha, the only thing I'll probably have to worry about is freezing from Neji's attitude or drowning in youthfulness," I joked, forcing my voice to be carefree and unworried. "Why, did Neji already talk to you about it?"

Hinata was ignoring my question and staring at me, "You can't trick _me_ TenTen. You might trick Temari, Ino, Sakura, even _Neji-niisan_ but you can't trick me."

I hesitated, "I'm afraid," I whispered, "I'm afraid that I'll hold back my team, I'm afraid of losing the few people that are left that I care about, I'm afraid that I'm going to be betrayed again."

**Hinata's POV**

I started when TenTen mentioned the betrayal. I remembered the day, I had never seen TenTen so blank, defenseless, broken.

_Flashback_

_I was training with Neji-niisan when an alarm rang for an intruder. Neji-niisan and I paused and glanced at each other, we knew that Lee and TenTen both enjoyed the 'challenges of avoiding the Hyuugas' as they put it. That was their way of saying breaking and entering into the Hyuuga Compound. I hurried toward where the alarm was sounded and saw twenty people spinning around performing the Kaiten. Yes, that's TenTen alright, I thought, No one else could make Hyuugas do the Kaiten as often as she did. I took a deep breathe and pitched my voice so it could be heard, "Stop, that's TenTen!" _

_The Kaitens faded and I could see TenTen now and she didn't look very well. "Hey Hinata," she said tiredly._

_I couldn't help it, my eyes widened. TenTen, the TenTen, the Weapon Mistress of Konoha that got up at dawn to train with my niisan and was still perky and happy was tired? There was something incredibly wrong with this picture. "TenTen!" I exclaimed, "Come on." I hurried over to her and grabbed her arm, gently leading her to my room. While we were walking, I carefully hit some pressure points that would relieve stress. "What's wrong Tennie?" I whispered when we were back in our room._

_TenTen seem to gather herself up at her pet name, the one we used only when she looked like crap and we were trying to comfort her. It had happened only once before, when she found out that her parents had left her at Konoha because they didn't want her. After that time of crying over lost childhood, she never mentioned again, the only thing that came out of it was a slightly thicker wall around her heart. "Hey Hinata." She looked at my worried face and managed to smile wryly, "I look like crap don't I?" _

_"No," I said carefully, "Who hurt you?" I asked glancing at her dead tired eyes. _

_TenTen didn't answer me immediately, "Hinata," she whispered._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Do you think it's my fault?" I looked at her in confusion. That had to be the weirdest question she asked me. "Did I do something bad?" before I could say anything she plowed on, "Everyone I care about, everyone I loved, everyone just seems to be betraying me…….."_

_I stared at her aghast. That was what tore her again. I remembered that about a month ago, she had finally let herself open up and got a boyfriend. He seemed a nice enough guy when I met him and I remained polite but distant. They seemed close then I remembered that TenTen had received partner missions with Neji for about two weeks straight. That's when the guy probably did whatever that hurt her. "TenTen?" I received bewildered eyes, "Was it that boy, the one you started going out with a month ago?"_

_TenTen nodded, "He always seemed to only want to do shows of affection in public and he always boasted to his friends that he was dating the 'Weapon Mistress of Konoha' but I didn't really think about it. When I came back from the mission, we were early and when I visited him I found him in his room making out with another girl. I just left before he noticed me."_

_I trembled, why would anyone do that to TenTen, she was kind and sweet, (unless you were an enemy nin that we were suppose to kill) and she never really intentionally hurt someone for pleasure. "That-that that BASTARD! I hope he goes and rots in the deepest most cursed pits in the world. He deserves to be killed slowly and painfully." I ranted for a few more minutes until TenTen finally gave me a tired grin. That night, she stayed over at the Hyuuga Compound and I comforted her when the tears came. The next day, she kicked his butt (fairly) and dumped him. She moved on, except for another added layer to her wall._

_End of Flashback_

"Are you getting nightmares?" I asked concerned. She never said she did but with experiences like hers I didn't know how she didn't.

"Naw," she said cheerfully, "Just, just missions and training is packing my schedule, that's all."

"If you say so….." I said doubtfully. I looked at her face, she was hiding something still but I didn't want to push her. "Do you want to stay over, I still have a few of your clothes that I never returned."

TenTen smiled, "That'll be nice but I don't want to wake you up in the morning, everyone needs their sleep."

"Including you all mighty Weapon Mistress of Konoha," I lectured as I overrode her protests, "I have to wake up that early to train anyway, shut up and get your clothes to sleep."

TenTen smiled, "You seem to be getting the hang of ordering people around," she turned and walked over to my closet and picked out her clothes. "Thanks." She went to the bathroom and changed quickly before coming back and taking out a few blankets to sleep on. "Good night Hinata, sweet dreams."

I crawled over and carefully hit a few stress points, knowing that it'll help her sleep. "Just go to sleep, you obviously need it," I chided gently. I bit my lip, as T watched TenTen sleep peacefully. I felt a sense of foreboding as I watched her sleep, I was going to ask Niisan to watch TenTen carefully during the mission........

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**oh yeah!**

**foreshadowing rocks**

**thanks for reading, if you want you can review!  
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	2. Why?

The Mission and It's Outcome

**TenTen's POV**

I woke up at dawn in Hinata's room and quickly dressed. I dressed in my usual clothes and attached my extra scrolls and weapons under my clothes. I left Hinata a short note that said that I was going and to wish me luck and left out the window. Using the same wall, I jumped down and ran to the front of the gate. I jumped into a tree and waited for Lee and Neji. I was about three hours early so I passed the time throwing my kunai and pulling it back with chakra strings. After about two hours, I felt a chakra presence and pulled out some senbons just in case. I turned to meet the white eyes of the Hyuuga prodigy. "Hey Neji," I said calmly, storing my senbons away.

Neji regarded me for a moment, "Hn," he muttered. "Is Lee here yet?"

"Nope, we still have about an hour before we're supposed to go so Lee will probably come in about thirty minutes or so."

"Hn."

We sat and waited together in a comfortable silence. Once Lee arrived, we stood up and faced the gate, time to get started on this mission

We leaped from tree to tree on the way to the village. When we were a little away from the village, I got the feeling that there were eyes on us, watching and judging how strong we were. "Neji," I whispered, silently asking a question.

Neji nodded a barely noticeable movement of his head. We landed on the ground and slipped into fighting stances. I didn't pull out my weapons just yet; I didn't want the enemy to know what I fought with.

After a few seconds of waiting, ten nins with a scratched hitai-ate jumped down and regarded us. "They only sent three kiddies to fight forty missing ninjas. It seems that Konoha underestimated us," he snorted and spat to the side. "I'm trembling in fear of what they could do."

Lee struck a quick good guy pose, "I will fight for you Gai-sensei, these dirty wannabes will not win!"

"LEE!" I yelped but it was kind of too late. The lead nin tensed up in anger and motioned for the others to attack.

In the fight, it was hard to stay together. Slowly, without us noticing, the ninjas began to pull us apart, I was pushed into fighting in a clearing while Neji and Lee were pushed away from each other but still in the forest. I began to focus more on the fight. When we noticed that we were too far from each other, we began to push back together. Actually, there wasn't much I could do, all I could do was stay in the clearing and hope that the other guys will reach me. I brightened slightly when I noticed that Neji and Lee were now in the clearing. Sure, it meant that I had to be even more careful about my aiming but I preferred that to not seeing them and worrying. I tensed up and quickly summoned up a katana. I held it out in front of me to fight the last few people with. I could see in the corners of my eyes that Neji and Lee were finishing off their opponents as well. As I killed my last opponent I turned to see an enemy ninja heading quickly toward Neji's blind spot. I froze before I kicked into action remembering what Neji told me when we first began trusting each other.

_Flashback_

_"Hey Neji! What did you want to show me?" I asked cheerfully when we settled down for a break._

_Neji glanced at me and motioned me up, I obeyed. He pointed to a spot on the back of his neck, "There's a flaw in the Byakugan, this is the one blind spot I have."_

_I cocked my head to the side and watched him nervously, "Then what if someone comes toward that direction?"_

_Neji stared at me for a moment before saying, "That's why I was telling you. I was hoping you'll protect my blind spot, the one weakness." _

_I thought it over and smiled, "Of course I will, you're my friend whether you like it or not, not to mention you're my teammate!" I gave him a quick hug, and as usual, he tensed up. "Oh and Neji?" He turned and nodded to show he heard, "I don't think it's a weakness, I think it makes you human."_

I stood in the way of the enemy ninja's katana and felt pain rip through my gut, shit the asshole _so_ owed me.

**Neji's POV**

I whipped around when I heard the clean snick of a weapon passing through a body. I turned and was met with a bloody sight, "TenTen!" I whispered in shock.

TenTen turned and smiled weakly, "I promised remember?" she whispered, before she slumped down on me.

I felt like I was going to literally see red, that was it, this man was going to _die_. Lee got there a second before me; he flashed over and kicked the man on the throat, effectively killing him. Lee stared at TenTen's body, "Is she……?"

TenTen opened her eyes the slightest, "I……. have…….. the….. scrolls," she gasped out.

Lee and I quickly stood up and began flashing through the trees, this was TenTen! The Weapon Mistress of Konoha brought down by a weapon, fate sure is cruel. I looked down at TenTen's body again, I leaned down and whispered, "Don't leave me, please, don't ever leave me……" Lee and I were both going at about triple our regular time so we arrived at Konoha before it was night. I completely forgot about having to give a report about the mission of Tsunade-sama and rushed to the hospital. At the hospital I gently set TenTen down in front of a nurse, "She needs help, please……."

The nurse looked down at TenTen's still bleeding cut and gasped. She began screaming and yelling for help and emergency attention while trying to heal the cut at least a little. I watched TenTen get whisked away by the nurses and felt the knot in my stomach loosen just the slightest. A nurse came up to me, "Are you hurt?" she asked, "Your shirt has a lot of blood on it."

I shook my head, "It's not mine," I said politely.

The nurse nodded, she smiled at me sympathetically, "I'm sure your teammate will be alright, after all, they're calling Tsunade-sama and Sakura-san to heal her."

I nodded at her concern distantly, I was still remembering when TenTen had gotten in the way of the blade for me. Her softly uttered words were a mystery. Sure I tried my best to not break my promises but to get stabbed through the stomach to keep a promise was a little on the extreme side. I clenched my fists, the moment when TenTen slumped down was the first time I had ever felt completely helpless and vulnerable. Staring at her limp form while we were jumping from tree to tree had almost been unbearable. I loosened my fists, why was it that I felt such concern for someone I labeled as just a teammate?

**TenTen's POV**

I felt extreme pain on my stomach when I was semiconscious. The stab had really done its job well, if it had hit Neji, he would be dead right now. I tried to wake up, I hated hospitals but my physical state was finished, I fell back unconscious think about the words I had heard while the wind was whistling in my ears. "Don't leave me, please, don't ever leave me….." and I distinctly knew that that voice was Neji's voice.

I finally completely woke up and tried (unsuccessfully) to sit up. The moment the top of my back left the bed I felt pain shoot through my body. "Ugh.…." I moaned as I fell back on the bed.

I opened my eyes to see _white_. Just white everywhere, this meant I was in the hospital which meant that I had gotten hurt contrary to the promise I made Hinata, Sakura, and Ino, oops? I painfully turned my head to see white eyes, green, pink, and a large iron fan. "Hey Neji or Hinata, Lee or Gai-sensei, and Temari," I croaked out dryly. I turned my head painfully to see them and saw a flash of concern or relief in a pair of ivory eyes._ That was weird, _I thought, _If it's Hinata, she would have said it, if it's Neji, it's a fake because Neji just doesn't show emotion like that……. Besides, Hinata Has light lavender sort of eyes, not ivory. Which left Neji, which also doesn't make sense._

I heard a soft giggle, "Actually," Hinata's soft voice said, "It's both."

"YOSH!" yelled never repressible Lee, "OUR BEAUTIFUL KONOHA BLOSSOM IS ALIVE AND SAFE!"

I growled quietly, "Lee you are_ so_ lucky I'm stuck in this stupid bed!"

I heard a chuckle, "I knew you wouldn't have gone down without a fight bun head!" Temari cheered happily.

I moaned, all the talking was giving me a headache. When I saw Lee open his mouth to say something again, I interrupted, "Will you guys SHUT THE FUCK UP DAMN IT!" I groaned and clutched my head, "You guys are giving me an annoying troublesome headache."

Sakura smiled, "You must be getting better if you can yell like that.

Temari snickered, "You sound like Shikamaru." I mumbled up a protest to that but she ignored me and continued, "You better get well soon, you still owe me a rematch!"

I smiled weakly, "You're going down wheat hair."

Temari laughed, "Not in the condition you are right now!"

Sakura frowned, "Quiet!" she yelled.

I smirked and croaked, "That was sort of contradicting….."

Sakura looked at me in surprise then laughed, "All right, all right. Sorry but all of you guys have to go out. The only people allowed in here is the nurse, doctor, and teammates/family."

Neji, Gai-sensei, Lee, Hinata, and Sakura stayed. They all just sort of stood around my bed and after a while Hinata told me she had to go. I grinned, "Date with Naruto right?"

Hinata blushed and suddenly frowned, "Why is it that you remember everything about any relationships that are told to you yet you always forget to wear fancy clothes to our girl get togethers?"

I winked cheerfully, "My memory is very elective."

Hinata rolled her eyes and left with a cheerfully good bye. After a while, Lee and Gai-sensei left with loud yells of replenishing their youthfulness, and hoping that their youthful blossom will get well soon. I rolled my eyes and waved to them cheerfully, that was their way of helping.

Neji just stayed there, not moving and not even looking at me. I frowned, maybe he felt guilty about me being stabbed…… if he got guilty anyway. "You okay Neji?" I finally asked.

Neji looked at me for a moment before saying, "Hn," and looking away again.

I sighed and looked out the window, "You should get going soon," I told him, "The suns going to set soon and you're going to be locked out."

Neji chuckled slightly at that, "You and Lee never get locked out, how can they lock out a Hyuuga?"

I forced a smile, "Good point, but won't they worry?"

Neji shrugged carelessly, "They won't care."

I grinned, "Then I won't mind the company."

**Neji's POV**

TenTen fell asleep soon after she 'asked' me to stay. I watched her chest rise and fall with each breathe and thought again of what she had said.

_Flashback: TenTen gets stabbed_

_I was dispatching the stupid missing ninjas as fast as I could. I felt a chakra presence right behind me, right where my blind spot was. _Shit, I'm going to be too late_, I thought angrily as I turned. I started when I heard the clean snick of a blade but no pain. I turned to see TenTen with a katana through her stomach. Her blood dripped down and she looked like she was in extreme pain. "TenTen…." I whispered in shock._

_Temari turned her head and smiled weakly, "I promised remember?" she slumped down on me._

I frowned again, TenTen had promised to protect my blind spot but I didn't remember anything involving getting half way killed to do so…….

TenTen's POV

The first thing the stupid asshole (Neji) said when I was able to get out of bed was that I needed to train a lot to get back in shape. I flipped him off and told him to go and try getting _his_ stomach stabbed. Even more annoyingly, he was right and a week after I was 'let out' of the hospital (I escaped but Tsunade-sama said; after screaming at me for doing something that dangerous only a few days after being stabbed; that if I was strong enough to jump out the window, I was fine) I started target practice and basic training. In three days, I was only a little weaker then my normal strength and started sparring with Neji again.

I landed on the ground in a crouch, looking at Neji as he stopped his rotation. "Can we take a break," I gasped out, "I'm still recovering."

Neji just walked up to a tree and leaned against it as he waited for me to catch my breathe. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue and sat next to him and slumped onto the trunk. I leaned my head back and took deep breathes, trying to draw air into my seemingly empty lungs. I sighed and closed my eyes, the day was slightly chilly but I was warm from the work out. I knew my hair was in complete disarray, the buns probably half way loose and not keeping my hair out of my face at all. I growled in annoyance, and with my eyes still closed, yanked the ties out and tried to redo them. I started muttering swear words when I realized that my hair was too sticky with sweat to unknot and redo. I gave up, put the ties around my wrist, and slumped back onto the trunk.

I tiredly opened my eyes to pearl ones staring at them. I felt my eyes widen slightly, "What?" I grumbled, still annoyed about my hair.

Neji continued to stare at me, "Why did you take it?"

"Eh?" I asked confusedly, "Neji, what the hell are you talking about?"

Neji continued to stare which was starting to creep me out, "Why did you take the katana?"

"Oh…." I muttered. I struggled to think of an excuse, "You would've died from a neck wound…… but I saw it and kept it from hitting anything vital?"

Neji raised his eyebrows, "I'd say your stomach is pretty vital."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Whatever, you're alive, I'm alive, everyone's happy so get off my back."

Neji frowned, "Next time you might not be as lucky."

I turned my eyes away from his stare, "Yeah, yeah. Can we train now?"

I stood up and pulled out a scroll and opened it a bit. Neji flashed from where he was sitting to in front of me. Before I could even voice a protest, I found myself pinned to a tree. "Why?" he growled, angry now.

I looked at him struggled to keep an impassive expression on my face, "I think you damaged my back _again_."

He looked slightly apologetic and his grip loosened slightly, still tight enough to hold me in place but loose enough that I wasn't in pain. "Why?"

I felt like punching him, he was so damn clueless! And I thought Naruto and Sasuke were bad with emotions. "Because I was trying to save you, you damn asshole!" I yelled.

Neji flinched slightly, "Why were you trying to save me?"

I snorted and tried (unsuccessfully) to get my wrist out of his grip. His grip tightened slightly, "Okay, okay," I yelped when my wrist started hurting again. "Because you're my teammate."

Without thinking, I felt my head turn to look away from his eyes. "You're lying."

I scowled, and kept my eyes turned away, if I looked, I wouldn't be able to lie.

**Neji's POV**

I lifted her chin with one hand, "Why are you lying?"

TenTen looked like she wanted to kill me, "Because no one likes admitting they love someone when that person is a complete asshole."

I looked at her in shock, "What?"

TenTen glared at me, "I'll dumb it down. I'm in love with you. Most people don't fall in love with asshole and I'm unfortunately, one of the few that do. And no, Ino and Sakura don't count, they were stupid little people."

"That's why you did it?"

"Yes you jack—!" TenTen stopped talking when I kissed her on the mouth.

TenTen stared at me in shock once we separated, "Why…..?"

I smirked and kissed her again, "Because I love you," I whispered in her ear. TenTen blushed and turned away, reaching for a scroll.


End file.
